Before mixing the vocals, the recording artist should ensure the quality of the raw recording. A good quality recording has no unwanted noise, interference or clipping. The recording artist should record vocals flat, without any effects, and use a suitable microphone for the singer.
Minor breathing and background noises are likely to occur during pauses in the singing. Recording artists should remove this using an audio editor. After completing this, they should increase the amplitude by normalizing the track to the maximum.
The other audio tracks should have the right fader levels, balance and panning before the recording artist begins mixing in the vocals. Lead vocals are almost always in the very center of the mix. Every word should be comprehensible and clear. To decide on the level of the vocals, a good technique is to make a few different mixes with different volumes. The recording artist can then play these mixes through different sound systems to clarify which sounds best.
Low frequencies diminish the clarity of a vocal track, making it sound muffled. Removing these frequencies, and any others causing problems, creates a more natural sound than boosting the desired frequencies. The recording artist needs to equalize the vocal track before beginning compression. Compression lowers the volume of loud parts and increases the volume of quiet sections, so compressing the audio before equalizing would boost frequencies that need to be cut.
The recording artist can use effects to her personal taste, although keeping reverb levels low allows the vocals to stand out and sound strong. Adding delay to the vocals can thicken the sound of the vocals. An effective technique to achieve this involves tripling the track with delays panned to the left and right. Suitable delay times could be 16 and 32 ms respectively.